Vijayawada: A pall of gloom has descended on Pedapulivarru village in Bhattiprolu mandal of Bapatla district due to passing of Kasinathuni Viswanath. Every villager is sad, with none of them left untouched by what Viswanath has done for the village. They turned up in large numbers to pay their floral tributes to the departed legend.
Villagers recalled that Viswanath’s family lived in Pedapulivarru until he was 10 years’ old. After that, Viswanath's father shifted the family to Vijayawada, where he had been the manager of a cinema theatre. Viswanath received his higher education in Vijayawada and graduated from Andhra Christian College in Guntur.
Around that time, Viswanath's father introduced him to famous director and producer B.N. Reddy, which led to him entering the film field.
Pedapulivarru village elder K. Subba Rao recalled Viswanath being very friendly whenever he met the locals. Subba Rao said they used to visit the house of Viswanath in Chennai, where they got a chance to view film shootings.
The village elder said even after becoming a legendary director, Viswanath did not cut his relationship with his village and villagers. During Corona times, Vishanath donated oxygen machines to Pedapulivarru, which helped locals a lot.
Sajja Basavapunnaiah, whose family purchased the house and farmlands of Viswanath’s father when they shifted to Vijayawada, said Viswanath’s house turned very lucky for him, as he got a job soon after buying the house.
Teachers and students of Vignan University also paid floral tributes to Viswanath’s photo. Vignan chairman Dr Lavu Rattaiah recalled their university conferring an honorary doctorate on Viswanath during its fifth convocation.
Hindu College Guntur principal P.M. Prasad and vice-principal K. Durgaprasad recalled that Viswanath studied Intermediate in Hindu College and degree at AC College in Guntur. They recalled that whenever Viswanath visited Guntur, he used to visit these colleges. Hindu College had also felicitated him.
